Machine for bending sole margins



-July22,1941. I E. S.INOKIES 2,249,779

MACHINE FOR BENDING SOLE MARGINS Filed March 1, 1940 Patented July 22,1941 UNITED STATE MACHINE FOR BENDING SOLE MARGINS Ernest S. Nokes,Swampscott,,Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation,Borough of- Flemington, N. 1., a corporation of New Jersey ApplicationMarch 1, 1940, Serial No. 321,626

6 Claims. J (01. 12 -22) This invention relates to machines for bendingsole margins and is herein illustrated as embodied in a machine fortransversely curving the marginal portion of an unattached outsole' sothat it will conform closely to the bottom of a lasted shoe and will nottend to pull away from the overlasted upper of the shoe after it hasbeen cement attached thereto. Apparatus for performing a similaroperation is disclosed and claimed in United States Letters Patent No.2,209,405, granted July 30, 1940, upon an application filed in the nameof William P. Le Bette, and the present invention may be regarded as animprovement thereon.

It is an object of the present invention to improve the smoothness andregularity of curvature of the marginal surface'formed upon the treadface of the sole and to avoid the production of any visible line or markat the junction of the flat and curved portions of said surface. To thisend the extreme edge portion of the sole margin is gripped between thelarge ends of the two tapered rolls while the sole is engaged inwardfrom its edge by a feed wheel about which the body of the sole is bentupward relatively to the margin by being caused to pass over a supportwhich holds up the body of the sole at an angle to its margin as thesole is fed along by the feed wheel and the tapered rolls between whichits edge portion is gripped." The arrangement of the rolls, feed wheeland support is such that the outer face of the sole is in the air at theplace where the bending occurs; permitting the formation of a smoothcurve and eliminating any possibilty of marking or marring said outerface.

In addition to the usual edge gage for guiding the sole, there isprovided a second edge gage so positioned in the path of the sole edgeafter the sole has left the rolls and feed wheel as to cause the sole tobe guided practically automatic-ally along all except the sharpestcurves, such as that at the tip of a pointed toe.

These and other features of the invention will be better understood andappreciated from reading the following detailed description of anembodiment thereof in connection with the accompanying drawing, in whichFig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a sole margin bending mechanismembodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view of the same mechanism in front elevation;

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing a detail of the mounting of the solesupporting member; and

Figs. 4 and 5 are fragmentary views in plan and side elevation,respectively, illustrating one position of the sole while it is beingoperated upon.

Referring now to the drawing, lll'indicates a portion of a stationarymachine frame or housing by which the movable parts of the mechanism aresupported. Bolted to the housing I0 is a bearing bracket l2 in which isjournaled a shaft l4. To the outer, or forward, end of the shaft I4 isafiixed a toothed feed wheel l6 and immediately adjacent thereto atapered hold-down roll 18 is keyed to the shaft by a pin 20. The rearend of the shaft carries a gear 22 with which meshes a gear 24 drivencontinuously from any suitable source of power.

Also afiixed'to the shaft I4 is a gear 26 which meshes with a similargear 28 upon a shaft 30 journaledin a bearing member 32 mounted forswinging movement in a vertical plane about a pivotal axis whichconicides with the pitch line of the meshed gears 26, 28. The rear endof the member 32 is'connected by a treadle rod 34 to a treadle- (notshown) by'which the said member can be raised and lowered at will by theoperator.

Aflixed to the forward end of the shaft 30 is a tapered supporting roll36, the large end of which is in register with the large end of thetapered hold-down roll [8. The roll 36 is, however, considerably longerthan the roll l8 so that the feed wheel [6 overlies the supporting roll.As illustrated. the diameter of the feed wheel I6 is about the 'sameasthe diameter of the large end of the hold-down roll l8 and the result ofthis is that, when the supporting roll 36 is raised to grip the extremeedge portion of the margin of a sole S,

as shown in Fig. 5, and the sole is held up in contact with the feedwheel, the sole does not touch the supporting roll 36 directly beneaththe feed wheel.

The body portion of the sole S is held up at an angle to its margin by asupport comprising a roll 38 mounted to rotate freely in a holder 40 astem portion of which passes through a slot 42 in a supporting arm 44and is threaded to receive a clamping nut 46 by which the holder can besecured in any desired adjusted position along the slot. The rear end ofthe arm 44 is pivoted, by a pin 48, to a lug 50 projecting downward fromthe member 32 and the arm is supported by a spring 52 the tension ofwhich may be regulated by a screw 54 threaded into a tapped hole in themember 32. An adjustable stop screw 58 threaded through'the arm 44strikes the under side of the member 32 and determines the upper limitof movement of the arm 44 relative thereto.

Adjustably secured upon the bearing member 32 by means of a screw 58passing through a slot 60 therein is an edge gage 62 which is arrangedto engage the edge of the sole and position it between the rolls l8 and36, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

A second edge gage 64 is secured to the side of the bearing member 32 bya screw 66 and is so positioned in the path of the edge of the sole Sbeing advanced by the feed wheel that, by the cooperation of the twoedge gages with the rolls I8, 36 and the feed wheel I6, the sole will befed and guided practically automatically along all except the sharpestcurved portions of its edge. This automatic feeding is aided by the factthat the action of the rolls and feed wheel upon the sole is applied ina direction diagonal to a line joining the sole engaging faces of thetwo gages and tends to hold the sole edge against both gages except whenthe sole is being fed around a curve of very short radius, such forexample, as that at the tip of a pointed toe, where some aid by theoperator may be required in order to turn the curve accurately. H

As shown at 68the gage 64 is chamfered off to permit it to approach veryclose to the roll 18;

The brush 10, illustrated in Fig. 1, is the same as the brush shown inthe Le Bette patent previously referred to and is for the purposeof ap-'plying an activator or solvent to a previously cemented band 12 upon themargin of the sole.

In operation, a sole is started against the first edge gage 62 and thetreadle rod 34 depressed, causing the extreme edge portion of the solemargin to be gripped between the continuously rotating rolls l8 and 36.The body portion of the sole is bent up around the lower edge of thefeed wheel [6 until it rests upon the support 38. As the sole is fedalong by the rolls I8, 36 and the feed wheel l6, its marginal portion isprogressively bent into approximately the curved form shown in Fig. 5,no visible mark or line appearing on the lower, or grain, face of thesolebecause that face is not engaged by any supporting member at or nearthe point where the sole is bent around the edge of the feed wheel. faceof the marginal portion of the sole is formed to a smooth regular curvealthough there may be a slight visible break in the flesh face of thesole where it engages the feed wheel Hi; this, however, isunobjectionable and may even be desirable for reasons explained atlength in the said Le Rette patent.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to besecured by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A machine forbending sole margins comprising, in combination, a sole supporting roll,a

The outer hold-down roll, an edge gage arranged to position the extremeedge portion of a sole between said rolls, a feed wheel arranged toengage the sole inward from said rolls, and a second edge gagepositioned to be engaged by the edge of the sole after the sole has leftsaid rolls.

2. A machine for bending sole margins comprising, in combination, a so esupporting roll, a hold-down roll, an edge gage for positioning the edgeof a sole between said rolls, a feed wheel arranged to engage one faceof the sole inward from its edge, and a support on the opposite side ofthe sole for bending up the body of the sole toward the feed wheel at anangle to the sole margin.

3. A machine for bending sole margins comprising, in combination, a solesupporting roll, a hold-down roll, an edge gage for positioning the edgeof a sole between said rolls, a feed wheel arranged to engage the soleinward from its edge, a second edge gage positioned tobe engaged by theedge. of the sole after the sole has left said rolls, and a support forholding up the body of the sole at an angle to its margin while the soleis under control of the feed wheel.

4. A machinefo'r bending sole margins comprising, in combination, atapered sole supporting roll, a first edge gage adjacent to the largeend of said roll, a hold-down roll in register with the large endportion of the supporting roll adjacent to said gage, 'a feed wheelcoaxial with the hold-down roll and spaced therefrom toward the smallend of the supporting roll, and a second edge gage positioned in-thepath of the edge of a sole which is being advanced by the feed wheel.

5. A machine for bending sole margins comprising, in combination, atapered sole supporting roll, an edge gage adjacent to the large end ofsaid ,roll, a tapered hold-down roll with its large end portion inregister with the large end portion of the supporting roll, a toothedfeed wheel coaxial with the hold-down roll adjacent to the small endthereof, and a support for holding up the body of a sole, away from thesupporting roll, against the feed wheel.

6. A machinelfor bending sole margins comprising, in combination, upperand lower tapered rolls arranged to engage and grip only the ex tremeedge portion of a sole margin, a feed wheel positioned to engage oneface of the sole inward from its edge, and a support on theopposite sideof the sole for bending up the body of the sole, toward the feed wheel,at an angle to the sole margin, said support being disposed inward ofthe sole; from the point where the sole is engaged by the feed wheel. r1

ERNEST s. Norms.

